Some England Fans Are Calling For Croatia To Be Disqualified

Alright, alright, we get it. You're sad that England were knocked out of the World Cup by Croatia the other night. It's OK to be sad, but maybe - just maybe - it might be time to move on.

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Most people could tell you that despite England putting in a valiant effort and going down swinging after an agonising and draining 120 minutes of football, Croatia eventually won through and were the better side for most of those two hours of football.

The stats back that up, but most importantly, the scoreline backs that up.

Despite all that evidence, some England fans are still a bit angry about it. So much so that there have been calls for FIFA to disqualify Croatia from the final, which seems unlikely.

In fact, Google stats show that 'World Cup Croatia disqualified' has become one of the top searched terms on the site since Wednesday night.

So, do they have a case? The short answer is 'no, probably not' - but let's review the evidence.

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The first argument is that some people believe that Ante Rebić was booked twice in the match, without being sent off.

Ante Rebić. Credit: PA

Outside of the fact that this has actually happened before (in 2006 Graham Poll booked Croatia's Josip Šimunić three times before sending him off), this is incorrect. The theory here is that Rebić received one of his 'two' yellow cards for chucking the ball off - however, the card actually went to striker Mario Mandžukić. Oh well.

Secondly, some have argued that Domagoj Vida should not have featured at all, as he should have been suspended and therefore ineligible.

Domagoj Vida. Credit: PA

This is because of some - shall we say - questionable celebrations from Vida after their quarter final win against Russia.

Vida was filmed shouting 'glory to Ukraine' afterwards, a rallying cry for the pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia nationalists during the recent conflict. Vida claimed that it was to do with his love for his previous club, Dynamo Kyiv. FIFA didn't ban him; therefore, he was cleared to play.

So we can cross that one off the list too.

Thirdly, England fans (who presumably didn't get their free McMuffin yesterday morning and had a miserable day) are arguing that the match should be replayed because the referee, Cüneyt Çakır was in some way guilty of not awarding free-kicks at key times for England.

They say that a high boot should have meant that Ivan Perišić's opener should not have stood. They argue that Çakır once sent Manchester United's Nani off for a high boot, therefore this is the same.

Cüneyt Çakır. Credit: PA

Outside of the fact that the refereeing has been lenient throughout the tournament, and this has led to more open, flowing games (unless Neymar is involved), a match can't be replayed due to poor officiating.

There is no precedent whatsoever for that, unless it is proven that the match was fixed, and even then, a replay is unlikely.

So, although it's sad, looks like we'll have to suck it up. Be proud of what the young England team achieved, and look forward to them growing together as a team into the next tournament.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]